Issue 42, 2012
From the journal:

Journal of Materials Chemistry

Microwave-assisted, surfactant-free synthesis of air-stable copper nanostructures and their SERS study†

M. Ibrahim Dar,ab   S. Sampathc  and  S. A. Shivashankar*ab  

* Corresponding authors

a Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
E-mail: shivu@cense.iisc.ernet.in
Fax: +91 80 2360 4656
Tel: +91 80 2293 3323

b Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

c Department of Inorganic & Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

Abstract

A simple, rapid, and surfactant-free synthesis of crystalline copper nanostructures has been carried out through microwave irradiation of a solution of copper acetylacetonate in benzyl alcohol. The structures are found to be stable against oxidation in ambient air for several months. High-resolution electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) reveals that the copper samples comprise nanospheres measuring about 150 nm in diameter, each made of copper nanocrystals ∼7 nm in extension. The nanocrystals are densely packed into spherical aggregates, the driving force being minimization of surface area and surface energy, and are thus immune to oxidation in ambient air. Such aggregates can also be adherently supported on SiO2 and Al2O3 when these substrates are immersed in the irradiated solution. The air-stable copper nanostructures exhibit surface enhanced Raman scattering, as evidenced by the detection of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid at 10−6 M concentrations.

Graphical abstract: Microwave-assisted, surfactant-free synthesis of air-stable copper nanostructures and their SERS study

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2JM35629E
Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Aug 2012
Accepted
12 Sep 2012
First published
12 Sep 2012

J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 22418-22423

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Microwave-assisted, surfactant-free synthesis of air-stable copper nanostructures and their SERS study

M. I. Dar, S. Sampath and S. A. Shivashankar, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 22418 DOI: 10.1039/C2JM35629E

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